Saving the Hemlocks

Among the most majestic trees in Eastern forests is the hemlock. Isolated stands of them more than half a millennium old still can be found.

But they are at risk from an invasive species, the hemlock wooly adelgid. Now, the tiny bug has been found in three new Ohio counties, Athens, Geauga and Lake.

It will prove impossible to stop the adelgid’s march — and its destruction of hemlock trees. But it is possible to save individual trees, through expensive treatment. If they have not done so already, state officials should be planning to provide such treatment to at least some of the most valuable hemlocks in Ohio forests.